Police investigate five for paintball guns at Mercer Mall

LAWRENCE — Police officers investigating a report of men with guns in a pickup truck at the Mercer Mall parking lot Sunday afternoon ordered five men from the vehicle, but later determined they had paintball guns, police said.

One of the men, Hector Perez, 26, of Princeton was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. No other charges were filed against the men. The large police response turned heads in the mall parking lot near the Bank of America.

“They could be real guns, they could be fake guns,” Lt. Charles Edgar said of the report from a passer-by that came in at 4:50 p.m.

Police seized two paintball guns and paintball ammunition from the truck.